dodojojo

Mata wanted to go. Valencia wanted to sell.

I would like Benayoun to start. Hodgson will order all his players to stay in their own for most of the game and I think a #10 like Yossi will help spot some passes for Torres. But it looks like he's off to Spurs and as a precaution, he probably won't be played. Imagine if he got injured and it scuppers the Modric deal?

If Yossi has to go in order to get Modric then it's understandable. But if they're willing to take Kalou instead, I would be thrilled with Yossi staying. Gotta keep skilled players on the team not let them go. Plus, I don't think he and Modric play the same position. Modric plays deeper and Yossi plays further up the pitch. Yossi is a good squad player and can give a few quality starts.

Fernando Torres making paella to welcome Juan. It's confirmed.

Party pooper...

:lolwave: Branching out, I like that.

The truth is we don't really know where the negotiations are and are left to Juander if Chelsea will gets its man.

Jesus christ, if not getting Mata will stop all the 'puns', it may be worth it. If I hear juan more lame joke, I'm gotta slap someone.

Last summer City reportedly was offering him 250K.

Well, it was during the Hodgson era where Torres wasn't at his best...so some context. Still a very stupid comment because the class levels are so different. If Torres retired from football today and Ngog played another 10 years, he still wouldn't accomplish as much as Nando. A crappy, injured Torres = Ngog at full speed.

Yes, for the first season. Of course after his sensational first season, they brought him up to about 90-100K which was what he was making at AM anyway. And in 2009, they renegotiated him to about 120ish.

A mercenary does not stay at his boyhood club for 7 seasons while never finishing higher than 7th in La Liga when he had world class talent. A mercenary does not leave his boyhood club while taking a pay cut so he can go to the northwest of England for CL football. A mercenary does not turn down City's offer to be the highest paid player in England. LFC fans simply can't fathom that they aren't that special. Yes, they are a big club. Yes, they have a great winning record in the past. Torres will no doubt say he enjoyed most of his time there and appreciates the club. There was obviously a great love affair between him and the fans. Yet he walked. And you know why? LFC aren't that freaking amazing. My god, he left his life club where he was captain and icon because he wanted CL football. Why wouldn't he leave LFC? Oh, because they're so, so special? Ah, no. I think that's what leaves them so 'butt hurt.' Torres treated them as a club of employment and not the club he adores (unlike Atletico). And horror, he disagreed with Dalglish's rebuilding plans and timeline. That's unforgiveable because Daglish is infallible it seems. In other words, the degree of their anger and bitterness is tied in with their own inflated sense of worth and entitlement.

I don't remember if it was that forum or another LFC one, but I remember one poster who, not kidding, said David Ngog was going to become a better striker than Torres...

Not quite. Think Silva is a better dribbler and has a bit more of the fantasy aspect. But definitely excited to have Mata on board. Chelsea's width would go from almost zero to respectability.

Yeah, but Carlo tried that a couple of times and it didn't work. AVB had them on for a few minutes against Stoke and honestly, when it was Anelka, Drogba and Torres on, it didn't look that great. I think it's better if it's Anelka, Benayoun and Torres. But I doubt AVB will go for this because I have a feeling Yossi is on his way out so he's not going to bother with a strategy that won't be used again. Plus, he'll need to insure Yossi doesn't get injured. Apparently, his arrival at Tottenham is imminent. Maybe plug McEachran in Yossi's role?

Silva seems to do alright and I think he's even smaller than Mata.

That's true. Can't believe Aguero was making north of 200K for a team that only flirted with the top 4. Wonder what Torres would have made if he had stayed. He actually took a pay cut to join Liverpool. I think he was around 100K when he left AM. Oh well, AM will screw up as usual...would be nice if they actually challenged the top 2 once in a while.

Is Falcao better Aguero? Oh well, Atletico will find a way to mess it up. Third biggest club in Spain run by clowns.

With 7M add ons? A tad expensive no? 47M, what did City pay for Aguero?

It was against Everton away and I remember reading about it but never actually saw it in the stream I was watching. But yeah, it was point of discussion. At the time it was mostly scousers siding with Torres and telling Carragher to stop his stupid hoofing. After the transfer, it was yeah, remember when that lazy cunt, Torres wouldn't run after a hoof and Carra told him off? Yeah, go Carra lad. Reportedly Carragher tore into Torres at half time of that game too. But so many rumors floating so who knows. Like I said people were convinced and confirmed by the ITKs that Roy and Torres hated each other, etc. And then Roy said in an interview that Torres texted him after his transfer and they both have said nice things about each other. So there you go.

I'm sorry but he's basically good for one career-ending tackle per week nowadays. I can't fathom why the FA allows him to get away with it.

Torres was very diplomatic by saying Hodgson was a great man but perhaps his footballing philosophy did not gel with Liverpool. Privately, I'm pretty sure Torres hated that brand of football. There's a funny story told by Balague about Hodgson's practices and Torres' reaction to them. I hope LFC keeps starting Carragher for the next 5 years.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/West-Brom-Chelsea-news-Roy-Hodgson-fears-former-Liverpool-colleague-Fernando-Torres-ahead-of-weekend-meeting-article787013.html Hodgson dreading reunion with revitalised Torres West Brom manager Roy Hodgson has backed Chelsea's £50million striker Fernando Torres to finally live up to his price tag this season - but hopes he does not show what he is capable of when the teams meet this weekend. Hodgson worked with Torres during his ill-fated six-month stint in charge of Liverpool and, although the Spain marksman has struggled over the last year or so, the Baggies boss has no doubt he will come good. "I am very glad for him that he appears to be showing some of his old form," Hodgson said ahead of Saturday evening's Barclays Premier League game at Stamford Bridge. "Torres, in the form he is capable of showing, is capable of causing a lot of problems for my defence. "But I am particularly pleased for him. I enjoyed my time working with him. It was not a good time for him. But these things happen at football clubs. "I do not know what he would say, but so far as I am concerned I have a lot of time for him and a lot of respect for him. "If he is now getting back to his top form for Chelsea, as I knew he would, then I am very pleased for him. "He is a good fellow. A serious professional. I was unlucky that I caught him, and a few other players, on the back of a World Cup, and in his case an unsuccessful World Cup. "Under me, he had serious injury problems. His wife was having a baby at the time as well, which was an important point in his life. "If you take that very short period we worked together, there were things going on in his life which had little to do with football and which I could not control. "I never doubted him as a person or as a player. It was bold of Chelsea to pay a big transfer fee for him when the consensus was that he wasn't at his best. "But I always believed that it was a move which would pay dividends because he is a top-quality player - and I fear that I will see that at close hand on Saturday!" He quipped: "I only hope that he takes pity on me and has a bad game out of sympathy with our plight!" Really, Roy, your crap attempt to turn him into a slow moving target man wasn't really the best way to utilize Torres. On the other hand, I'm very surprised by how Hodgson has been nothing but complimentary of Torres since leaving Liverpool. There were so many rumors of a rift between the two of them. Maximum respect to Hodgson as a gentleman even if I disagreed with his football at Liverpool.

So maybe that tells you why the game ended 0-0? Rather than replacing Torres maybe, just maybe, AVB replaces the underperformers? Torres will be benched too...when he underperforms. I don't think he underperformed against Stoke.

Yeah, other than going with Torres against Stoke, I found AVB's surprisingly conservative. But it's only the first game...